Is Apple the only company that regularly uses Thunderbolt. I see nothing at computer stores, and they're always geared towards PCs.
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iMac hard drive upgrade
- Thread starter WorkerBee2015
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HP has a laptop that has a thunderbolt port, and I thought Dell had (or will have) a laptop with thunderbolt. I think at this point however, its still largely an apple only technology.
If it's just for a hard drive, why bother with thunderbolt at all? It costs a fortune, it's hard to find, USB 3.0 is almost everywhere at a fraction of the cost, USB 3 doesn't need weird connectors or adapters and USB 3.0 is nearly as fast.
Wait until they start replacing Thunderbolt with USB C and see how you like it. USB C with a single port is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. A guy I work with was suckered into buying a new MacBook and now to use peripherals he has to attach about 5 different adapters which end up scattered all over his desktop. What a kludge! It looks like total crap. And I don't think USB C connectors are compatible with USB 3.0 and earlier without an adapter!
The thinking, if you can call it that, going on at Apple baffles me. I seem to remember something I read that said they were contemplating replacing other ports with USB C. Are they seriously just trying to figure out the absolute dumbest thing they can do? Are they deliberately trying to irritate people?
The thinking, if you can call it that, going on at Apple baffles me. I seem to remember something I read that said they were contemplating replacing other ports with USB C. Are they seriously just trying to figure out the absolute dumbest thing they can do? Are they deliberately trying to irritate people?
That's the penalty for buying a device that leans pretty far forward on early tech adoption. Most MacBook users (if these forums are any indication) are mainly using the MacBook standalone and couldn't care less about trying to attach to anything other than the charger. If you still need peripherals and therefore ports, you're still best served by an Air or Pro at this stage.
But why is the adoption of USB-C baffling for Apple? They tend to push early adoption (USB on the original iMac, canning optical drives, etc.). A lot of work has gone into the USB-C physical port, and now that we have one connector that can pass power, data, and video, it seems only natural Apple would phase it into their product line, just as they did with USB in the late 90's, FireWire, and the original Thunderbolt. The most positive sign here is that other companies are putting USB-C into their machines, so Thunderbolt 3 has a much better chance of success than prior iterations. I wouldn't be surprised to USB-C ports introduced on the entire lineup this year. They may also still retain some USB-A ports during this interim phase, but C is well on its way.
The Macbook is an overpriced "netbook". It is not really designed for more than casual use as an entertainment device.
Wait until they start soldering SSDs into the units. They're already doing it with RAM on some. That makes it a totally throw away unit.
Its cheaper, but it may not be easier. Depending on the how compatible the parts are and how much hacking you need (custom kexts), you may have issues updating, or upgrading. I had a hackintosh for a while, and I could easily update to the next point release, but there was no way for me to easily upgrade to the next version of OS X. The custom kexts that I had weren't available - not sure why but they weren't.
I decided to look for a Thunderbolt external drive enclosure and was able to find virtually nothing. The only thing I was able to find was this thing:
http://www.storagereview.com/seagate_goflex_thunderbolt_adapter_review
Everything else I could find tended to be stuff like RAID units. The Seagate model sells for about $100. I can get a USB 3.0 enclosure for about $10.
I wasn't really looking to buy one, I just wanted to see what's available. I came across this review with performance stats on the Seagate, which is really just about the lowest cost Thunderbolt enclosure for single drives you can get:
http://www.storagereview.com/thunderbolt_storage_with_any_hard_drive_or_ssd
Most of the Thunderbolt enclosures are for RAID units and they're typically hundreds of dollars. The only other single drive enclosure I could find was on eBay for about $85 but I've never heard of that company (doesn't mean they're bad though).
Compare this with a USB 3.0 enclosure which is easy to find and a "costly" unit is $30.
I recently picked up a used 2012 21" iMac for development work because we still have to boot some of the older OS X versions and test on them. Although His Highness, Jony Ive, has indeed built a good looking unit it does so at the cost of serviceability. To access and replace the hard drive you have to remove the front display, which is bonded via adhesive to the frame of the unit. You basically have to cut the adhesive around the entire perimeter of the display to get it off. I've done work like this before so for me it isn't a problem but for the average person, even one that's used to servicing "normally" build computers, this can probably end up being a disaster. Instructions can be seen on iFixit. To upgrade the RAM you have to pull the logic board out.
The good looks of the unit are cosmetic and although it looks good, it's appearance is only a "grabber" for about a few hours or so. After using the unit the appearance doesn't matter, after all I'm looking at the display, not the back of the unit or the side of the unit. Additionally since this thing came with an internal HDD only, instead of supplying a port for an SSD that could be used with a Fusion drive, the port is missing, meaning it can only be used as a single internal drive unit. When the HDD dies, it must be opened up to be replaced (anyone ever hear of a drive that never goes bad?????)
From a serviceability standpoint, the design totally lacks an ounce of common sense or user friendliness. So how has Apple changed the iMac since???? Interestingly, some of the newer iMac units have performance stats that are significantly slower than this particular 2012 iMac, they're RAM is soldered in, and I'd have to guess the units are even harder to work on.
The idea that someone buys themselves a $1300 - $1500 computer that's basically a throw away if even the simplest things go wrong with it completely lacks common sense.
Full guides here for anyone that wants to know: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-replace-the-hard-drive-in-your-27-imac-slim.1979747/
Holding the display to the main body of the unit with double sided tape, which is essentially what it is, is a ridiculous idea. Couldn't the unit have been just a tiny bit thicker and the display held on with screws for easier servicing? Sacrificing practicality at all costs for exterior appearance has gotten out of hand.
I'm just about to pick up a second hand base spec 2015 5k iMac with the 1TB fusion drive. I had no idea apple had gimped the SSD part of it so I want to sort that out. It sounds like opening up the iMac doesn't void the warranty (UK) but if there is an easier way I am happy to go down that route.
Would using a usb3 enclosure with an SSD be much slower than replacing the internal 1tb mechanical hd with the same SSD or do I really need to open the thing up?
Would using a usb3 enclosure with an SSD be much slower than replacing the internal 1tb mechanical hd with the same SSD or do I really need to open the thing up?
If you put an SSD into a USB 3 enclosure and use that as a primary drive, it will probably be 2-3 times faster than the internal HDD. I don't know if it would necessarily be faster than the Fusion overall. Looking at some of the videos of disassembling these units, it's something to avoid if possible in my opinion.
The display is attached to the newer units with adhesive that you need to separate from the body of the unit. I'd use the iFixit tool to take it off because there are other videos of it being done with a razor blade and they end up messing up the front appearance. Apparently the sides of the front display panel once removed are a black plastic or vinyl material that can tear.
Someone at Apple needs to study user friendliness in disassembly…I'm guessing even their techs have problems with this.
Someone at Apple needs to study user friendliness in disassembly…I'm guessing even their techs have problems with this.